The End of the World as We Know It
by Kuvos
Summary: A new law is instated that makes dueling illegal. Teachers are kidnapped, cards are burned and all hell breaks loose. Character deaths later. Yaoi pairings.
1. The End of Dueling

The door to the Slifer dorm burst open like a bullet, waking nearly the entire building as it banged against the side of the wall. "Everybody down to the front lawn. NOW!" A voice bellowed. The owner of the voice, dressed in what at seconds glance appeared to be an ominous astronaut suit, ran by to wake the next room of boys.

"What's going on?!" Syrus wailed, as he fumbled desperately for his glasses that had fallen off sometime during the night. "Don't know," Hassleberry replied groggily, "Is Jay awake?" Snores from the bottom bunk answered his question. "Well we have to wake him up!" Syrus shrieked as his ankle hit against the bed frame in the dark. "HURRY UP!" They heard from somewhere downstairs. "Oh Hassleberry, I'm scared!" Syrus whimpered, "It's three a.m. , somebody must have died or something!" Hassleberry groaned in frustration, "Come on soldier, pull yourself together. There's no use worrying until we find out what's happening." Hassleberry swung himself down from the top bunk sans any grace and began the impossible task of trying to awake Jaden. Syrus meanwhile was sitting on the floor having a mini panic attack.

"Something's wrong with him," Hassleberry mumbled as the sounds of pounding feet began to echo from outside.

"What do you mean?" Syrus frowned, "It's always hard to wake him up." Hassleberry shook his head impatiently, "Uh-uh. Look at him." Syrus cautiously approached the bed, and sure enough Jaden appeared to be having a nightmare. He was sweating and panting, his mouth twisted in an expression of agony.

"You don't think he caught that virus from Jesse, do you?" Syrus asked, referencing their Obelisk friend who was currently in the infirmary. "Maybe." Instinctively both boys' hands shot down to Jaden's forehead; it was clammy and icy. "Aw man, what are we going to do?" Syrus asked hopelessly, as the angry shouts from the unknown man continued.

Hassleberry exhaled, "I guess…" Before he could think about it, he quickly scooped up Jaden and swung him over his back, "Let's go. As soon as we find out what's up, we'll take him to the infirmary." They ran out of the room and down the steps, Syrus standing as close to Hassleberry as possible.

A sea of running duelists awaited their eyes once they were out. They tried to spot their friends among the crowd, but it was impossible. The man who had woken them up came and pushed them against the wall, "What took you so long in there?" He hissed, his breath smelling of smoke. "My friend is sick…" Hassleberry murmured, placing his hand on Jaden's back. "Is that so?" The man growled, "Well I'll be going to search your room anyway." With a final spit in their direction he stalked up the stairs and into their room. Hassleberry and Syrus exchanged a look of terror, before continuing to the field.

"Sy! Jaden! Hassleberry!" A familiar voice called from their right. They turned, and there was Alexis, clinging desperately to Atticus's hand, along with Chazz, Jim and Axel. Right away they could sense that something was wrong, because no one even seemed to register that Jaden was unconscious. "You guys," Alexis said, "They took our decks from us."

"What?!" Hassleberry replied, outraged, "They can't do that!" "Well they did," Chazz replied bitterly, "And they put them in some stupid box so we couldn't talk to our duel spirits," The anger in his voice led the others to believe that perhaps he liked the Ojamas' company more than he let on. "We think that they're going to get rid of them," Atticus said in a hushed voice. Syrus's mind wandered to his, Jaden and Hassleberry's decks that were all lying openly on the table in the room that that man had gone to inspect…

Everyone clung together. The air was cold, and all of the chaos made them feel as if they were in the middle of a war zone. It didn't help when Blaire suddenly appeared before them in tears. "Have you seen Marcel?" They shook their heads, which seemed to reduce her to pure terror. "Don't worry Blaire, he's probably out here somewhere." Jim said. Blaire bit her lip, "I don't think so. You see there are rumors going around that all of the teachers were kidnapped, and well, you know how close he was to Professor Bonaparte," She paused, "I-I'm going to keep looking for him anyway," She said determinedly, "Thanks guys." Blaire disappeared into the crowd once more.

"Kidnapped?" Syrus squeaked in a small voice. From then on it was mostly silence. Hassleberry lay Jaden down on the grass. Someone asked if they should go make sure Jesse was okay, an idea that was quickly shot down by the notion that he was probably safer where he was. One of the men who had pulled them from their dorms lit a fire, which actually comforted everybody because they presumed that it was a gesture of kindness to keep them warm.

After what seemed like ages, and what was literally half an hour or so, the man who seemed to be in charge spoke, "Hello duelists," He said the last word with so much venom that it made everybody cringe. "We," He gestured melodramatically to the twenty people in uniforms, "Are from the International Control Organization. An organization, which is set up to put to rest any practices that are a danger to society." He allowed his words to settle maliciously onto everybody's skin before continuing, "Your teachers, as well as the man known as Maximillion Pegasus, have been imprisoned. They will be kept there until we can be sure that they will be of no harm to our peace." He took a moment to open the box containing the decks, and everybody, knowing what he was about to do, gasped. "We have already destroyed every other deck in the world. These will be the last," He tipped the open box over the bonfire and somehow nobody was able to shut their eyes as the cards fell like rain into the towering flames. Sobs and shouts broke out from all over. The man who had been speaking merely grinned as a girl attempted to throw her duel disk at him. Just as the last of the cards was about to turn to ashes, Jaden's eyes snapped open and he let out an tormented scream.


	2. After the Burning

A/N -- Thank you to the people who reviewed! I hope everybody likes this chapter as well! Oh and I forget to mention, as I probably should have done, that this is AU early-mid third season. Essentially just an alternate plot to what happens once the transfer students come. Slight spiritshipping in this chapter, I suppose.

Immediately, Syrus, Hassleberry and Alexis were kneeling at Jaden's side, trying very hard to use the excuse of worrying about his well being as a way to forget about their destroyed cards.

Jaden however did not reply to their worried whispers. His pupils remained locked on what could now not be told apart from the ashes of newspapers. Then without warning, he reeled around to face them, sending them jumping backwards. His voice sounded very young and helpless, "T-they, t-they – I saw them-"

"Throw them in the fire," Chazz finished for him. He too, had not taken his eyes away from the bonfire, but there was something harsh and piercing in his voice that made it audible from the noise around them. Cautiously Atticus tried to step closer to him, but before he quite got there, Chazz had vanished through the mob without a parting word. Atticus managed to make eye contact with his sister, exchanging the telepathic message that they'd have to find him later. At the moment Jaden was most important.

"I-I need," Jaden managed hoarsely. "What is it, mate?" Jim asked gently, joining the others down at his level. "Jesse," Jaden finally mumbled, the word appearing to cost him the last of his energy.

"Do you think he knows?" Alexis asked as she imagined how impossible it would be to explain to Jesse exactly what had happened to their most prized possesions. "Doesn't matter. He has his cards," Atticus said uncharacteristically angrily. However his words brought a new reality upon them. Whatever thorough job the ICO (who's members had long since boarded their ships, leaving the students alone on the island with no adults) had thought they'd had of destroying all of the cards in the universe, they hadn't. Jesse still had his deck, and it was doubtful that they could have destroyed the Sacred Beast cards. One the broader scale, things were looking just the tiniest bit better; however on the more personal level, they were still duelists who were no longer going to be able to duel.

"We need a plan you guys," Axel said, speaking for the first time since the burning. "I'm going to go find Chazz, and make sure he doesn't jump off of a building or anything. You guys get to Jesse." Jaden, who now looked all but limp, mustered an agreeing nod in Axel's direction.

"I'll also try to round up anybody who might want to help us," Axel added as he started off in the direction of the Obelisk dorms.

"Help us?" Syrus asked, not seeming to be able to focus on anything other than his cards or his best friend's current state.

Axel's jaw was set tightly with determination, "We aren't going to sit here and take this, are we?" When no one countered him, he gave them a nod and promptly left, leaving the others to go to the infirmary without him. Luckily, since the ICO was no longer breathing down everybody's necks, for the most part people had migrated to their respective dorms to hold wakes for their decks, and things were not so crowded anymore. They managed to get Jaden safely upstairs without much trouble.

As soon as they walked in and saw Jesse, sitting sweaty and edgy looking on his cot, Jaden seemed to regain his strength and ability to speak. He did a few double takes with his head, and then raced over to the bed, practically throwing himself into Jesse's arms.

"Oh Jess, do you know?" He choked out as Jesse hugged him tightly.

"Ruby told me," Jesse replied softly, uncomfortable about saying his spirit's name. "I'm so sorry, Jay," He spoke as if giving condolences about the death of a loved one. "You can always use my cards if you want to." Timidly Jesse reached up to stroke Jaden's hair.

The others stood awkwardly by the doorway. Jesse hadn't said anything about being sorry about _their_ cards. Once Jesse and Jaden broke apart, several minutes later, Jesse seemed to realize this and turned sheepishly toward them.

"Was it horrible?" He quietly asked, trying to sound as tactful as possible. Atticus finally managed a curt nod and this ended what would have been any discussion.

"Well," Jesse jumped in, transparently trying to lighten the mood, "I'm all cured, and ready to help you guys bring this to an end." He even punched his fist in the air for extra enthusiasm.

Alexis sighed, "You sound like Axel. But as much as I hate to say it, we have bigger problems right now. We have thousands of students, and no kitchen staff, teachers or nurses. And if you add that with people being upset about their cards, forget it, everyone's going to go crazy."

Jesse's expression became more glum, "Yeah, I guess you're right. I was watching TV and there are already reports of suicide." He instinctively put his arm around Jaden again, as if worrying that the Slifer would be the next to be reported. Any hope that they had been feeling about not _all_ of the cards being destroyed was gone. Now there was only sadness mixed with a tinge of panic at what a building full of furious, grief-stricken duelists could do.

Just as Jim was about to suggest that they retreat to their dorms to try to get some sleep, two things happen. The elevator door opened, revealing Axel along with three others, and Atticus's PDA rang.

A/N -- All until next time guys! Please review if you liked it (or even if you didn't)!


	3. No Plan

A/N -- Thank you very much to the people who reviewed, and if you haven't and you like the story, please do! Reviews are really motivating! Slight spiritshipping again, with a little jealousy from Syrus.

The grey doors to the elevator swung open to reveal Axel, along with an annoyed looking Chazz. "We-"

"Shh…" Alexis cut him off, gesturing to her brother who was on the phone, "One sec."

"Okay, bye mom…" Atticus said, a strange expression on his face. "You guys aren't going to believe this," He said as he switched off his PDA, "but Mom said that the Truesdales called them, and apparently Zane is in jail."

"_What?_" Syrus shrieked. Atticus nodded, "With Aster. They tried to start a riot or something when they burned all of the pros' cards." He grinned, a bit of his lively spirit returning to him, "I always knew Zane was a rebel."

Syrus looked anxious, "Why didn't my parents call me?"

"Don't worry Sy, they probably just went to bail him out or something," Jesse reassured him.

"Oh sure, my brother's in _jail_, my cards are _gone_, and we don't know where my parents are, but I shouldn't _worry_." Syrus fumed.

Jesse seemed taken aback. He opened his mouth, but before he had a chance to reply, Syrus stormed towards the elevator.

"No you don't," Axel said firmly, catching him by the collar. "I've had enough of everybody running off. If we're going to get anywhere, we're going to have to not blow up at each other. Got it?" He raised one eyebrow at Syrus, who meekly nodded and returned to sit with the others.

After a long silence, Jim spoke up. "So mate, what_ is _your plan?" He asked Axel.

Axel looked surprise, "Well… I just figured that we stick together. I thought I'd leave the plan part to Jay, if he's feeling better." They turned to look at Jaden, who was curled up into a ball, his head resting pitifully on Jesse's leg.

Jesse patted him absent-mindedly, "Let him get his rest. He's had a rough night."

"Oh, you just don't want him to stop cuddling with you," Chazz snapped, annoyed that everybody was feeling sorry for Jaden, as always.

Jesse blushed, "What's with everybody getting mad at me today? I'm only trying to help."

Syrus and Chazz both seemed to seethe at this, so Alexis interrupted, "Will everybody stop? I know that this is a great excuse for all of your little personal battles with each other to come out, but would you grow up already?" She waited for everybody to relax, "I think Jesse's right, we could all use some sleep. Why don't we get some of the cots from the closet, and we can all stay here. It's probably safer than trying to get back to our dorms." Everybody eventually agreed with this reasoning, some a little more uncomfortable about spending the night, than others.

Syrus watched angrily from his cot as Jesse affectionately tucked Jaden under the sheets, then going to sit by the elevator.

"Aren't you going to sleep Jesse?" Hassleberry asked, also watching him.

Jesse shook his head, "Nah, all I've done for the past week is sleep. I might as well make myself useful and keep watch. Just in case." For eight hours, he sat by the door and kept look out, while his friends drifted through a nightmare filled sleep.


	4. The Next Day

A/N – Thank you to the lovely reviewers! Slight spiritshipping once again. I made it a little longer, but I promise to make the next chapter really long!

It was already noon by the time people began to awaken. Jaden was last, and luckily he seemed to have been rejuvenated a bit, although his sad expression betrayed the fact that he was still depressed.

"So, how are you guys?" Jesse asked them, his ears mostly awaiting Jaden's answer. Shrugs from everyone told him that if they felt better it was only because they no longer were delirious from exhaustion. "Well at least you can see straight now, huh," He kidded. Chazz clenched his jaw, wondering how long he should wait until he called Jesse out on his feeble attempts at lightening the situation.

"Do we wanna see about getting breakfast?" Jim asked.

Atticus shook his head, "I don't know about you guys, but I'm a little scared to see what's going on out there." Syrus and Hassleberry nodded in agreement. "We don't wanna get trapped in a mob or anything, right?" Syrus asked nervously.

Axel felt himself get frustrated at their lack of motivation to do anything, but decided not to push it for now. Suddenly an idea struck him, "Hey Jesse, didn't you say that they were reporting stuff about the burnings on television?"

Jesse brightened, "Yeah channel nine was talking about it forever. Even before the burnings were done here. I wanted to come to warn you guys, but some man in Miss Fontaine's office stopped me." Atticus and Jim exchanged a look, both recognizing that Jesse was trying to put himself in a better light. He figured they thought that he didn't care.

"Let's see if they're still talking about it. Maybe we'll learn something we don't already know," Axel said, taking the remote and walking over to the beds directly in front of the television set. He waited as everyone made their way over (it was a large room) before turning it on.

Jesse sat next to Jaden, who smiled sadly up at him. "Are you really okay, buddy?" Jesse asked him, as they waited for a weather report to end. Jaden's smile faded and he gave a sort of shake of his head. Jesse put an arm around him, wondering if he should try to cheer him up.

"Good afternoon everyone," The newscaster said, as the scenery changed from a weatherboard to an on-the-spot news report. "Well as you know, our latest breaking news is the fact that Duel Monsters, a rather popular card game, was just deemed illegal, internationally. The violence is unbelievable, folks." She took a dramatic pause as she began walking up the street. "We already have a death count of hundreds, mostly suicides, although there has been talk of a few murders. Riots have been breaking out all over, and rumor has it that the creator of the game, Maximillion Pegasus, has been kidnapped, along with others. We'll keep you posted as the trauma rises."

Axel muted it as the screen changed to a commercial. "So not much that we didn't know, except maybe that it's a little worse."

"You don't think that Zane and Aster were kidnapped, do you?" Syrus asked, his voice small.

"No way Sy," Alexis reassured him, "I'm pretty sure that they only kidnapped the really important people. You know, the ones who they think are at fault. Our teachers; Pegasus. I bet Kaiba too."

"Do you think Blaire's right about Marcel being with them?" Hassleberry asked.

Axel shrugged, "She could be. He always was hanging around Bonaparte."

"You know all of this is great and all," Chazz said, the volume of his voice causing everyone to look at him, "But we still have no idea what we're doing here! I mean come on Jaden! Axel said it, you're the one who always comes up with those stupid schemes, and right now we could really use one. So come on! What do we do?!" His angry outburst seemed to shock everyone, although they really should have seen it coming.

Jaden seemed flattered that Chazz was depending on him, but his new sullenness kept him in silence and he didn't seem to react much at all. This seemed to anger Chazz, and worry everyone else.

"I'll tell you what we do Chazz," An unmistakable voice called from the elevator, "We fight back." Everybody whirled around as the owner of the voice stepped casually into the room.


	5. Taking Action at Last

A/N – Thank you to everybody who reviewed! You guys are awesome, and really make me want to write more! Slight spiritshipping, and my longest chapter yet! Apologies if parts are a bit OOC…

"Aster!?" Everybody exclaimed, nearly in unison. He stood by the door, hands in his pockets, clearly amused by their surprise at seeing him.

"Aren't you in jail?" Atticus asked him.

It was Aster's turn to look surprised, "You didn't realize that our decks being destroyed would give us enough motive to break out?" The assumption everyone made when he said "us" was confirmed when Zane lumbered out of the elevator, a dark expression on his face. Other than making brief eye contact with Atticus, he didn't say a word. But that look had told Atticus a lot; all past pain between Zane and the others were forgotten. They were fighting the same battle now. Everyone else seemed to sense the feeling of unity as well, and it calmed their anxiety a bit.

Aster spoke again, "So as I was saying, we're going to fight back. I was figuring we could take my boat down to ICO headquarters and see if we can't find out the whereabouts of Pegasus and the others." When nobody replied he seemed a little confused, "I thought that might be a good place to start." He looked around, trying to find anyone who might acknowledge what he'd said. His eyes lingered on Jaden, whom he figured would be all ready for a plan of action, but Jaden remained dull and silent.

It was Axel who uncomfortably answered for the group, "When we were thinking about helping, we figured we'd start with trying to get the students to calm down a little bit. We figured maybe once we got enough people together, we could make a difference." He hadn't actually shared any of this idea with the rest of them, but it sounded about right so no one fought him on it.

Except for Aster who now appeared angry. "And what good is that going to do? Listen, if they can't handle what's going on, that's there own damn problem! My cards meant more to me than anyone's did and I did a hell of a lot more than run around railing about how unfair the world is." His voice rose ominously with every syllable, and Axel, who'd never met Aster and didn't know how he could be, was wishing that someone else had answered him.

Meanwhile, Jaden was trying to make his mouth work properly. He had known that losing his dad's cards would probably make Aster even more on edge than usual, and he thought he knew what to say to him. Eventually he managed to speak, but his voice was soft and weak sounding, "Aster, we made a pact earlier that we weren't going to get mad at one another. If you join it, then we might come with you, but otherwise we aren't going to help." Aster narrowed his eyes, clearly angry about being reprimanded. Jaden realized he might have gone too far, and he spoke again, this time more gently, "Aster, I know your cards were from your dad, and you're probably going through hell. But I –" He paused to pant for breath and then continued, "I think that just maybe I can imagine how you feel." Jesse grabbed his arm in worry as Jaden's breathing being more shallow and faint.

This seemed to somewhat satisfy Aster and he eyed Jaden curiously, "Yeah, what's going on with you? You seem really different, even for someone who just lost his deck."

Jaden shrugged slightly, "I" he stopped to gasp between nearly every word, "I feel kind of like I did when I lost to you and couldn't see my cards. Except this time I know I'll never see them again." He looked down at the bed. Jesse realized that his eyes were full of tears, and quickly took to trying to comfort him.

Aster left the two alone, and turned to the others. They all obviously felt badly for Jaden, but Aster detected something else as well. Jealousy, maybe? That they didn't have someone like Jesse who was going to worry about their every move and care about them more than anything else. Probably. He sympathized with them slightly, figuring that he'd get sick of all of the attention Jaden got if he was with him all the time.

"You need to come," Aster said to them quietly.

"What makes you think that?" Chazz retorted bitterly, angry about the whole prospect of having to spend any time with Aster.

Aster fixed his eyes on Chazz roughly, "Without dueling, what do you expect to do in the world?" He moved his eyes over the group, making sure to make eye contact with everyone, "Is there anything else that you could even have a remote chance of using as a career? Face it, without dueling you - all of you - are nothing."

Chazz thought about this. It was true, after his parents had died, his brothers had pulled him out of school and hired a tutor for him. He'd had basic facts drilled into his head until he was thirteen, and then was sent to dueling prep school. He didn't know how to do anything except duel, and it was too late to learn something else now. Aster was right. He decided to wait for someone else to acknowledge it aloud, however.

It was then that Zane finally said something, "Are you coming or not?" His voice was even and demanding as opposed to harsh.

Everybody glanced back at each other, giving slight nods to show that they were in. Syrus looked to Jaden for confirmation that it was a good idea, but his head was buried in Jesse's shoulder and he didn't see Syrus. Syrus bristled with anger that he was not the one to be comforting Jaden, and was the first to nod determinedly at Aster and Zane.

Aster cleared his throat impatiently, causing everyone, except for Jaden, to look up sharply. "We managed to find a fairly quick route from the docks, that isn't as full of people. So follow us, and try to be quiet and not pay too much attention to anyone."

"Wait, should we bring anything?" Alexis asked as he began heading for the elevator. Aster glanced around the room, "A first aid kit, if you can find one. Everything else we can get on the way." Obediently, everyone began to search the shelves and closets for a first aid kit.

"Found one!" Jim called, after pulling open the drawer under the TV set.

Aster nodded in approval and beckoned towards the door. When Jesse and Jaden didn't immediately follow, he got annoyed, "Can someone tell that new kid to get Jaden to hurry up?" Aster asked loudly. Jesse glanced up at his indirect address and began whispering to Jaden. After a moment, they stood up. Jaden's cheeks were drenched with tears and Jesse didn't let go of his arm.

Everyone stood awkwardly at the elevator for a moment, as Aster and Jesse stared each other down. "Once we get out of here, we can't stand for any more delays. Things are getting worse, and if we stop for even a minute things could go wrong." Jesse tightened his grip on Jaden and glared angrily at Aster in response. The others were torn between being angry at Aster for having suddenly stolen the role of leader, or being angry at Jesse and Jaden for being so caught up with themselves and each other. Chazz was angry with everybody, as usual.

They took the elevator down to the second floor, and followed Zane and Aster through many back staircases that they hadn't known existed. Jaden and Jesse lingered at the end of the group.

Jesse was quite surprised when Jaden suddenly whispered to him, "I think it hurts so much because of Kuriboh."

"Huh?" Jesse replied.

"I think since Kuriboh was my duel spirit, when the card got burned… the pain was just me losing my connection with him." Jaden swallowed and looked up at Jesse.

Jesse fidgeted for a moment, and then decided not to mention that that would mean that Chazz would be having the same symptoms. It was easiest to just let Jaden believe that it was that simple. "Probably," He said finally, "I mean, I know if that had happened to Ruby, I'd probably be going through the same stuff you are." He noticed Jaden's jaw tighten at the mention of Ruby, and worried that he shouldn't have said it. He sighed, knowing that he had to say the next thing on his mind as well. "Jay, listen." Jaden looked at him again, and the sight of his red rimmed, tragic eyes made Jesse feel a bit guilty about what he was about to ask from him. "I know how you're feeling, but… Can you try, just for me, to be the Jaden that we all know and love?" He tried to make his tone apologetic.

Luckily, when Jaden replied, he seemed to understand exactly why Jesse was asking for this, "I'll try," He answered quietly, "For you." The fierce hug the two boys then shared, was broke apart by Aster's penetrating glare. They had reached the doors to the main field.


	6. Out to Sea

A/N – Sorry for the slightly longer than usual wait, I've had a lot of tests and whatnot lightly and have been rather busy with that. Thanks goes out to my fantastic reviewers! I'm glad everybody liked the last chapter so much! Slight spiritshipping as well as slight ZaneXAtticus if you want to see it.

No one had quite expected the sight that met their eyes as they stepped out of the safety of the main building. They had figured that everyone had been exaggerating when they'd talked about what a disaster it was. As it turned out, nobody had exaggerated the slightest bit.

Now that it was daylight, and there were no classes to be attended, everybody seemed to be taking out their anger all over the grounds. Assorted screamed profanities could be heard from every direction. People lay on the ground, many unnervingly unconscious – or worse, perhaps. Alexis noticed with a sickening jolt to her stomach that one of the Obelisk girls' dorms towers had literally collapsed. It lay in pieces on the ground, everything within it surely destroyed. Alexis could not tell from a distance whether or not her room had been in that tower.

"Atticus," She whispered despairingly to her brother. He turned to look at her, his expression of concern deepening as she pointed silently at the building. No one else uttered a word. The reality that it wasn't just them suffering hit them hard.

It was with immense guilt that they climbed onto Aster's boat and escaped the horrible scene. Nobody seemed able to speak. Aster wordlessly gestured for them to follow him into the sitting area of the ship, and there they sat in silence as the ship pulled away from the dock. After a few minutes, Zane stood and disappeared behind a door at the end of the hallway. Only Aster seemed not to notice.

"Okay," Aster said, looking up from a map on the table, "According to this, we ought to be at ICO headquarters by around one a.m." He ignored a few people's surprised expressions at the length of the journey, and continued, "Which is perfect because most of their employees will have gone home by then."

"You don't think they'll be expecting us?" Axel asked skeptically.

"Nah," Aster brushed off the idea, "They think they have at least another week before everyone's done mourning. Besides, as far as they're concerned there's nothing we can do." He sounded doubtful on this last part, as if maybe a small part of him agreed that they were helpless.

"You know it might be a good idea to have lookouts," Aster said suddenly, "Any volunteers?"

"We will," Jesse immediately said, his hand still tightly around Jaden's. Aster nodded, "We can switch off every few hours. The door to the deck is that way," He pointed down the narrow passageway. They watched Jesse (it was too painful to look at Jaden) opening the door and climbing up the ladder to the deck, gently pulling Jaden up after himself. Nobody wanted to admit it, but it was easier to breath now that they were gone.

Aster then stood as well, "Does anybody want to join me in strategizing?" Axel and Jim nodded at once, not failing to recognize that Aster was not usually this inviting. Chazz hesitated. As much as he wanted to make sure that Phoenix didn't screw this up, he also desperately wanted to stay with the people who he felt more comfortable around. He eventually sunk back into his chair, shaking his head in response to the offer. "Alright. Come find me if there's an emergency." He, Jim and Axel went down the stairs and disappeared from sight.

Hassleberry nearly mentioned that they were back to the group they'd had for a while last year, with Atticus replacing Bastion of course. He vaguely realized that in both cases, they were thrown together because of something to do with Jaden. Last time it was worry, this time it was – anger? Jealousy? He wasn't sure, but he knew full well that he wasn't the only one feeling that way.

The silence continued. Everyone seemed to have let gloom overtake them, now that they were alone. Finally it was Alexis who said something, although it appeared to be just thinking aloud, "What about everyone else?" "Hmm?" Atticus replied.

"I mean," Alexis continued, "What about our other friends. Mindy, Jasmine. Adrian. Blaire. They would have wanted to come."

"Eh. They would have been dead weight. Don't go blaming yourself for not asking them," Chazz warned her. Alexis didn't respond.

Suddenly, Syrus bolted from the room and hurried into a bathroom. They heard gagging followed by muffled sobs.

Hassleberry sighed, "I knew this was going to happen. Poor soldier doesn't too well under stress. Besides, he mentioned to me that he gets sea sick." When no one did anything besides nod with slight recognition, Hassleberry found himself getting angry, "Well we're going to make sure he's okay, aren't we?" They had to, of course. Atticus, Alexis and a reluctant Chazz followed Hassleberry into the bathroom.

Sure enough, there was Syrus huddled against the wall and sobbing into his knees. Alexis quickly flushed the vomit down the toilet, and Syrus looked up. He felt his heart warm slightly when he saw his friends crouching around him. They cared!

"I'm sorry," He mumbled, picking up his glasses from his side. "It's just," He scrubbed at his eyes impatiently, "Jay is ignoring me, and now I have to deal with my brother too, and," His voice broke and he stopped again, prompting Alexis and Hassleberry to scoot next to him. "My cards are gone and I didn't even get a chance to get to Obelisk blue yet. And I hate boats!" He wailed in a pathetic sounding voice. No one knew what to tell him.

"I'm sorry buddy," Hassleberry finally said, "I guess we didn't realize how much this must suck for you." He rubbed Syrus's back a few times, "I'm sorry." He repeated lamely.

Syrus sniffled, "That's okay. It isn't your guys' fault." His slightly bitter tone gave way that perhaps there was someone who he blamed for this.

"Guys?" Atticus said, "I think that the five of us should promise that we're always there for each other, from now on." It escaped no one that this meant that Jaden would not be included.

"Not Jay," Alexis murmured softly.

"Oh don't worry about him. He has Jesse," Syrus said, possibly more scathingly than they'd ever heard him speak before.

It was with weak smiles that they acknowledged that from then on, they wouldn't have to go through it alone. Eventually they moved back into the sitting area and played mindless word games for a few hours.

At about ten o'clock when Jesse came down the stairs, Jaden staying closely at his side, "Sorry," Jesse said shyly, "But could someone else take a turn at keeping watch? We've been up there a while."

"Sure," Atticus answered, "Me and Lex will go."

"Thanks," Jesse replied, "Come on, Jay."

"Wait," Alexis, "Jaden, can I talk to you for a minute?" She felt her pulse quicken, not knowing what exactly had made her say it. He looked surprised, but she was happy to hear that his voice was stronger when he spoke, "Later, Lex? I'm just really tired." Alexis shrugged, "Fine." She had been planning on telling him to go talk to Syrus, but if he cared that little, then maybe she shouldn't bother at all…

"You guys are going to the deck?" Zane asked, suddenly returning to the room.

Atticus felt his jaw clench in his instinctive protectiveness of his sister, "Yeah." He said, quickly grabbing Alexis's hand.

"I'll join you," Zane said, nearly in a challenging manner. The tension was unmistakable. Syrus stared dutifully at the floor so that he wouldn't make eye contact with his brother. However, Atticus couldn't really argue and so the three of them went up to stand in the dark. Much to Atticus's silent objections, Alexis stood in the middle of the two boys.

"Nice night," Alexis commented blandly.

"Almost as nice as the ones from duel academy," Zane agreed. Atticus felt his over-protectiveness slip away. This was _Zane_ after all.

"So you and Aster, huh?" Atticus said, almost mockingly.

Zane gave his rare smile, "We're more alike than you'd think. We're both strategic, and care a lot about dueling. We've both had hardships. His immaturity does sometimes bother me though." For some reason this made Atticus sad. Had Zane been annoyed with his immaturity when they were friends?

It was then that Hassleberry interrupted them. "Hey guys? Sy is getting sick again, can someone come help?"

"I'll go," Alexis said instantly, happy to escape from the uncomfortable moment.

"Did I annoy you?" Atticus asked Zane softly, the moment she'd left them.

"You were different." Zane said flatly.

"But he's more mature than I am. Was I a burden to you as a friend?" Atticus wanted to curse himself for caring so much, but he couldn't help it.

"You were different, and you know it." Zane said, forcing Atticus's eyes to meet his own. They didn't speak for a while.

"When did you come back?" Atticus asked.

"What do you mean?" Zane replied.

"When did you turn good again?" Atticus repeated, knowing that the Zane he saw a few months ago was not the Zane standing besides him.

Zane seemed angry now, "Atticus, I told you, I was never being controlled by darkness. Why can't you understand that sometimes people change?"

"The real you would never hurt your brother like that," Atticus said, "I mean, I know you were always cruel to him and everything but you usually destroyed him with your words." He'd never know it, but these words hurt Zane worse than anything that had ever been said to him before.

"I'm not in the mood for your mind games," Zane said softly. He quietly climbed down the ladder, and isolated himself in his room.

Atticus was left to stand alone, watching the sea with an aching heart.


	7. ICO Headquarters

A/N – Thank you to everyone who reviewed! Slight spiritshipping as well as Chazz's usual crushing on Alexis. And the first deaths are approaching within the next four chapters or so, so be ready! Oh, and the telephone booth thing was completely stolen from _Harry Potter_.

Aster had been nearly correct with his calculations, for it was only one thirty in the morning when his ship docked about five minutes from ICO headquarters. He went around to awake everyone who had been asleep, and ushered them into the sitting area.

"Jim, Axel and I spent the whole trip coming up with this plan. And it's good, okay? So no arguing," It was not a question but a command. Aster was obviously tense and would not tolerate any disagreements.

He glanced them over, "We're going to split into three groups. Chazz, Syrus and Alexis, you're going to stay out front and try to distract the security guards. Jesse, Axel, Hassleberry and Atticus, you're going to sneak in through a back entrance and try to gather as much information as you can. Hack into their computer system if you have to, and try to find out what motivated them to do this. The rest of us are going to try to find wherever they're keeping the people hostage."

Jesse straightened up, his hand locked around Jaden's as it always had been, "No way. Jay and I are going together."

Aster looked furious. Some people obviously did not understand the importance of this. But it was Alexis, not Aster, who let them have it.

"I've had enough of you two!" She shouted, causing everyone to jump into the air. "I get it, you're trying to be good friends, or whatever you two are, but in the process you're ignoring everyone else." It wasn't quite clear if she was directing this at Jaden or Jesse and she seemed to realize this. "Jesse, we all know that you're closer to Jaden than the rest of us, but that doesn't mean you need to try and sabotage everything! And Jaden, this sucks just as much for us as it does for you, and I never knew you were so self involved." The others, while they agreed with her, were not sure if she had taken this a step too far or not. Jesse and Jaden both seemed hurt, not to mention rather stricken. However, they did not drop one another's hands.

Aster interrupted then silence, "Are you all ready? We put together backpacks with supplies, and we'll communicate by PDA." Everyone nodded, not sure if the previous issue had been resolved.

It was cold once they stepped off the ship, and Aster informed them that their bags contained jackets, as well as flashlights. They found that they needed both fairly quickly, due to the heavy winds and vacant sky. Walking to the ICO building was actually rather frightening, as it was nearly impossible for them to see more than five feet in front of them. Thanks to their earlier pact, Syrus, Alexis, Atticus, Chazz and Hassleberry soon formed a chain, holding hands. And Chazz, after realizing that it was Alexis with whom his right hand was intertwined, suddenly found himself to be in a very good mood. Jaden and Jesse were of course holding hands as well, finding themselves to be slightly isolated from the group.

"I see someone coming, everyone duck behind a doorway," Aster instructed. His voice was calm, but they could tell that he was just as frightened as they were. Sure enough, a person soon passed them by. He appeared to be somewhat insane, for he was talking rather angrily to himself. Luckily though, this prevented him from noticing any of them.

"Think he's a distraught duelist?" Jim asked, once they'd come out of hiding. It wasn't obvious whether or not he was kidding.

No one had really known what to expect from the ICO building, but what they saw surprised them greatly. It was a grand, ominous building. No windows but many guards, standing both by the doors and on the roof.

Aster tried to look unfazed, "Here's where we split up. The people who are going to distract the guards: go over to the entrance and come up with a reason that you need to get in. Try to keep some of the facts real, since it's easier to invent lies when you're staying close to the truth. And remember, it doesn't matter if you actually get in or not, you just need to buy us some time." He stood back, being tactful enough to give them a moment to say goodbye to everyone else.

Atticus held Alexis for a moment, planting a brotherly kiss atop of her head. "Stay safe," He whispered to her, knowing that the size of their group put them in more danger than any one else. Syrus looked miserably over at Jaden. He desperately wanted to hug somebody goodbye, but Jaden seemed oblivious. Before Syrus knew it though, Hassleberry had come over and put his arms around him. "I'll see you soon, buddy," Was the gruff farewell the two friends shared. Chazz waited patiently to the side, pleased when Atticus pulled him into an affectionate headlock. "Take care of 'em, alright?"

For fear that backwards glances would make them too terrified to continue, Chazz, Alexis and Syrus walked determinedly up to the guards standing by the front entrance. Aster immediately tried to bring everyone else around to the back of the building, almost as if he didn't want to have to watch what happened to them. He revealed that due to some research on rebellious websites, he, Axel and Jim had discovered a secret entrance. Much to everyone's awe, it was a trapdoor in the floor of a telephone booth.

"When we get down there, Axel is going to lead the people in his group to the right, and everyone else is going to follow me to the left. We have to be totally silent once we get down there because we figure that there will be alarms. So say your goodbyes now." Jaden immediately sagged into Jesse's arms, each mentally cursing out Aster for not allowing them to stay together. Jim and Axel exchanged a firm handshake, wishing each other the best of luck. Hassleberry and Atticus nodded towards Jim, who would not be going with them, telling him to be on the look out. Suddenly it was painfully clear where the boundaries and alliances had been formed.

When everyone seemed to be ready, Aster put a finger to his lips, indicating silence, and opened up the floor.


	8. Playing to Your Strengths

A/N – Thank you to all of the people who reviewed last time! I hope everyone likes the quick update. The next few chapters are going to be particularly intense, so be ready! Chazz's normal crushing on Alexis as well as references to weaponry.

Just when they were about to step in front of the surrounded entrance, Alexis grabbed Chazz and Syrus's wrists and pulled them behind a trashcan.

"What was that for?!" Chazz asked, massaging his hand, "I thought we were just going to go for it!" He hissed.

Alexis shook her head, "That's stupid. I just wanted Aster to think that we were done so he wouldn't be spying on us. We have to come up with a plan!" They crouched there for a long time without any brilliant ideas coming, realizing why it was that they weren't the masterminds of the group.

Suddenly Chazz snapped his fingers, "I got it!"

"What?!" Syrus and Alexis replied in unison.

"We play to our strengths, " He replied, slicking back his hair as though he truly believed that he was the coolest thing in the world.

Alexis and Syrus continued to stare at him blankly. "Care to elaborate?" Alexis asked impatiently.

"Well," He said, a slight smile dancing around the corners of his mouth, "You have on a low cut shirt and a short skirt."

"_So?_" Alexis snapped, pointedly folding her arms over her chest.

Chazz ignored this, "And aside from my natural charm, I also have enough money to… let's just say 'give them an offer that they can't refuse'."

The other two still didn't seem to get it, and Chazz exploded at them in frustration, "Geez, don't you guys watch movies? We have to go and try to persuade them, by each doing what we do best."

Alexis, although mildly disgusted by the fact that he considered her heavy chest to be 'what she did best', considered this. "You know, that's not a half bad idea." Chazz grinned at her, pleased to have been the one to come up with the plan.

"Wait a second," Syrus said slowly, "If Alexis is going to flirt with them, and you're going to give them money, what about me?" He looked worried, as if he wasn't going to be able to help them at all.

Chazz thought about it for a second, and again came up with the answer, "You're short."

"Way to kick me when I'm down,' Syrus responded, with as much sarcasm as he was ever able to manage.

"No, I mean you're short enough to pretend to be a little kid. Yeah!" Chazz's voice rose as he got more excited about it, "Just pretend that your parents left you somewhere and you need to use their phone. You can cry and stick out your lower lip and everything, they'll totally buy that!"

Syrus seemed uncertain, "It'll be kind of embarrassing though."

Alexis shrugged, "No more embarrassing than having to pretend you _like_ them or something," She shuddered at the thought.

"Okay, then. I'll go first," Syrus said, trying to appear as brave as possible, "What is it I want to do exactly?"

"Go and keep them talking for as long as possible. And if you get in to use their phone, really do call your parents. That way we can keep close to the truth, like Aster said."

Alexis smiled slightly, "I don't think that's exactly what he meant by that. But it sounds like it will work."

He started off and then turned around, "Wait, you have to make me cry first."

"Um…" Chazz said thinking, "Zane and Jaden could _die_." Sure enough, Syrus's wide grey eyes filled immediately with tears. Chazz could not help but laugh at how easy it had been. He and Alexis peered over the top of the trashcan as Syrus fearlessly marched up to the door.

"Sir?" Syrus said, his voice sounding flawlessly younger due to his genuine fright, "My mommy lost me when we were in the park earlier, and I've been wandering the streets for hours! No one will let me in to call her so she can come an pick me up." He truly sounded seven years old, and Chazz and Alexis were both impressed with his acting skills.

The guard however, looked skeptic, "No one will let you in?" His eyebrows were raised, "Which stores did you try?"

Syrus tried to picture Jaden getting stabbed and falling bloodily to the floor. The image triggered more tears and his next words came in convincing sobs. "I don't know!" He wailed, "Only the ones with the nice ladies, who weren't going to hurt me! And even they said that I couldn't use the phone unless I was a paying customer." For effect, he stuck his thumb in his mouth.

The guard seemed to grow more sympathetic now, although he still would not let Syrus in, "Unfortunately, I can't let you in here right now. But if you head three streets up, the couple who live in the large red house are bound to let you use their phone. They're very nice." Syrus nodded, realizing that if he didn't follow these instructions, the guard would know he was up to something. "Thank you, Sir," He said softly. He went in the direction that had been pointed at, and then doubled back to rejoin Chazz and Alexis.

"I'm sorry, guys!" He said ashamedly, "I guess I wasn't very good."

Alexis hugged him, "Are you kidding, Sy? You were amazing!"

Syrus smiled disbelievingly, "Really?"

Alexis looked at Chazz gesturing for him to say something nice as well. "Yeah, you were." Came the simple compliment, slightly forced sounding.

"My turn," Chazz said. He walked with such faked carelessness that he tripped on the curb and fell backwards into the street. Alexis guessed that perhaps he had been so cavalier because he had wanted to appear braver than Syrus. She went to help him up anyway.

He then continued more slowly, money enclosed tightly in his fist. "Hello gentleman." He said politely to them. Alexis and Syrus had to clamp their hands over their mouths to keep from laughing at his voice.

"I was just wondering if, as a tourist, I might have a tour of this facility." He grabbed the man's hand, and attempted to slide the money into it. Something that is actually harder to do than in the movies. Unfortunately, the man wasn't fooled, regardless.

"Get the hell away from here. This is private property! We are armed!" He reached into his pocket, as if to pull out a gun, and Chazz ran quickly away.

Chazz was out of breath when he rejoined them and seemed sincerely shocked that his hadn't worked.

"Don't worry," Syrus replied, "They probably were just suspicious since you went so quickly after me." Chazz gritted his teeth, not appreciating the good intentions of the comment.

"Did you here what he said?" Chazz said finally, his voice strained. Alexis and Syrus shook their heads, it was somewhat hard to hear from where they were sitting. "The people in the building – they're armed." Syrus and Alexis both gasped involuntarily, thinking of how their siblings were in there.

Alexis swallowed, "I'll get in. I'll do anything it takes, and then I'll go warn them." She looked at them forcefully, "Go find a pay phone. Sy, do your parents live near here?" Syrus nodded happily, the thought seeming to comfort him.

"Call them and see if they can come with a car or something. Wait around the back so that the second we get out of the building, we can leave."

"What if you don't get out?" Chazz asked, his heart seeming to break with every word.

"Tell my parents that I love them. And do the same for the others if anything happens to them. I'm sure it's what they'd want."

"Wait, can we leave first?" Chazz asked huskily.

Alexis smiled, "You're that sure I'll get in?"

Chazz managed to grin back, "I didn't like you just for your beauty, you know." On impulse, Alexis hugged each of them hard, "If anything good comes from this, it'll be that I appreciate my friends even more."

They then went their separate ways; no one knowing exactly what was going to happen next.

A/N – I'm going to try to include at least a little of what happens with every group. So the next chapter will open with a different group, and you won't know whether or not Alexis got in. gasp Till next time!


	9. Disturbing Information

A/N – Thanks to all of the people who reviewed! I'm back again! Please, if you haven't yet, do review. Even if it's to tell me that my writing sucks, I'd love to know what people think. Slight spiritshipping.

Beneath the floor of the telephone booth turned out to be a narrow metal staircase. "I'll go first." Aster whispered, "Keep your flashlights at hand. And remember, no talking." Jesse disliked how he'd said this while looking at him.

By the time Aster had made it to the sixth step or so, they'd lost sight of him. They didn't hear anything for a while, and had begun to think the worst, just when Aster shone his flashlight up in there direction. They could barely make out the tiny bulb in the dark, but it must have some kind of signal because Axel then nodded at Jim to continue on down.

They kept making the descent, one at a time, until it was only Jesse and Jaden were left in the tiny room. "Before me or after me?" Jesse asked simply, kind enough to let Jaden choose when he'd rather go. Jaden shivered, "I might as well get it over with." And so he went, leaving Jesse alone, and then a few moments later, Jesse followed.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the type of place below. He had expected a dingy storage room with mice and old paperwork lying around. Instead it was a hallway floored with black marble tiles. It was clean, well lit and air-conditioned. Jesse could not help but smile smugly when he thought of Aster reminding them to keep their flashlights at hand. He obviously hadn't known _everything_ about what to expect.

"Keep your PDA on vibrate," Aster instructed, before giving a nod of farewell to Axel and setting off down the hallway with Jim, Jaden and Zane behind him. Atticus sighed with relief once they were gone. He knew that having Aster as leader was better than having no leader at all, but he was starting to get annoyed with him.

"This way guys," Axel directed, leading them down a painted staircases.

After they went two flights down, Axel brought them back into the hallway and through a door to their side. It was a library.

"Grab anything that looks like it could be helpful and put it in your pack. Try not to leave any open spaces, and put things back where they belong if you decide not to take them," Axel said. They didn't find much in the library. The only book that seemed remotely helpful was one on the History of ICO, which they stowed carefully in Axel's bag.

"Hey, how did you know where the library was?" Hassleberry asked him before they left. Atticus and Jesse immediately grew more alert; they'd been wondering this for a while too.

"It's Aster. He's great at cracking computer codes, plus his pro status gives him access to all these special databases. We managed to track down a map."

"Did it tell you where there were alarms and stuff, too?" Atticus asked, this being his main worry.

"Not really," Axel replied, "Just that they have guards everywhere at night. Both inside and out."

"Are they dangerous?" Jesse inquired.

Axel shrugged, "Doubt it. They just keep them here to be safe, they don't _actually_ think anyone's going to break in." He said it so confidently, that for the moment the boys' fears were calmed.

"And remember," Jesse put in, "I have my monsters. So if anything happens, I can just attack them!"

Atticus scoffed at this, "They just outlawed duel monsters, you really think that they're going to have the building set up so that monsters can materialize?" Jesse blushed embarrassedly, "You never know."

"Geez, it's cold in here. Do the employees all have to wear fur or something?" Atticus said, pulling the jacket from the supplies bag even tighter around him.

"My guess is they have scientific experiments and need to keep it cold for that." Axel responded.

"Wow, you're smart." Atticus laughed, half serious.

They next headed through a long, dark room of cages, filled with what looked like rare species of animals. The animals all had chains around them as well as tag numbers. Jesse figured that nothing good was going to happen to them, and found it hard to look at them.

"Look, a Dino!" Hassleberry exclaimed suddenly, referring to an animal that had an uncanny resemblance to his deceased card: Black Tyranno. His excitement soon evaporated however, and he no longer wanted to look at the creatures either.

"Okay," Axel said when they got the exit, "We have to walk through the desk area of the building in order to get to the room where we're pretty sure they store papers. There might be people working there, so absolute silence, and we have to move quickly." Axel was rarely this commanding, so they knew that it was serious.

Sure enough, the office area was full of cubicles. A few of which had people sitting at them. Fortunately, the workers seemed to be absorbed in whatever was on their computer screens and did not notice them at first.

"Achoo!" Atticus sneezed loudly, the cold air getting to him.

"Oh crap," Axel muttered as someone looked up from their desk. "Run!" He whispered sharply. They did. All the way down to the end of the room and into the next, which did in fact turn out to be the room where they stored files. No one had been brave enough to look behind them, and so no one was sure whether or not they had been discovered.

"Sorry!" Atticus said immediately, "I'm really sorry!"

"No worries," Jesse replied, patting him lightly on the arm, "It doesn't seem like they followed us." Atticus smiled. He'd forgotten what a nice guy Jesse was.

"And look where we are," Hassleberry said, "Right where we wanted to be anyway."

"So get searching guys, because I think we might not have much time left." Axel said darkly. The files were helpfully organized by year, and it did not take long for the group to find exactly what they were looking for.

"Jackpot!" Hassleberry said as he came across a pile of papers entitled "Dueling Ban". "Oh but they're all numbers and stuff. I don't even know what the hell they're talking about."

"Wait, here's something," Atticus said, grabbing a single sheet of paper off the top of the file. They watched as his eyes widened in fear when he read it. "Oh no…" He mumbled softly, "We have to find Aster. Now! We have to get out of here!" His voice was frantic, and no one questioned him. They grabbed the stack of files and ran.


	10. The Worst is yet to Come

A/N – Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciate it a ton! Anyway, next chapter will be the first death(s) of the story so I hope everyone is ready!

Aster knew from the very start that they probably were not going to find the prisoners in the ICO building. The people who ran the organization were not stupid enough to imprison people in their headquarters. They would know that kidnapping is illegal, and therefore be more secretive about it. However, Aster also knew that having everyone look _together_ for information was simply not an option. For many reasons. So he pretended that his group was in search of the victims.

Jim was the only one among all of them who seemed to recognize that Aster was not in charge. He was actually quite a bit younger than most of them, and by no means did they have to follow what he said. But Jim went along with his plans anyway because he did not want to cause trouble and, besides his arrogant demeanor, Aster seemed like a decent guy.

"How long do you think we'll be in this place?" Jim asked, noticing how Jaden seemed half asleep and probably could not make it much longer.

"Dunno. You getting tired already?" Aster replied with his usual brisk wit.

Jim ignored the jibe, "Not at all. I was just curious. I mean if we do find any of the people who were kidnapped, it could take forever to break the lock to whatever they're being kept it."

Aster did not like the slight accusatory tone of his voice, and decided to deflect it immediately, "If we find them unfortunately I think we'll have to alert the police as opposed to rescuing them ourselves. We don't have the equipment for that." Jim nodded, his eye remaining trained on Aster. Zane was watching Jaden, although no one seemed to notice.

"Hey, hey, watch it!" Aster scolded, yanking Jaden by the arm to the side of the hallway, "You almost walked directly into that alarm. What's the matter with you?"

He watched as Jaden tried to wake himself, "Sorry." Aster wondered if maybe he should have put him with Jesse, if only for Jesse to make sure that he didn't go around walking into things and falling asleep.

"You have to be alert," Aster said sharply, "I told you that already." Jim debated defending Jaden and decided against it. He _did_ need to be alert.

Suddenly, Aster opened the door to a janitor's closet and ushered them inside, without any explanation.

"May I ask what we're doing in here?" Jim asked, slightly annoyed. His foot was stuck in a bucket and he had to duck in order not to hit his head on the abnormally low ceiling.

Aster shrugged, "Sometimes you can hear things through the vents. Also, I think there might have been someone coming up the stairs." He must have been correct, for there was then a pattering of feet outside the door.

"You don't think that could be the others?" Jim asked.

"Even if it is, we can't risk opening the door. And anyway, if they're being chased, we don't want whatever it is to chase us too, now do we?" Aster replied. Jim bristled slightly, finding Aster's disloyalty to the others to be appalling. Now he wasn't so sure he trusted him. Before they could say another word, Aster's PDA buzzed in his pocket.

"_What?_" Aster said angrily when he picked it up, "I told you to only contact me if it was an emergency. It's too dange-"

Atticus's fear filled voice interrupted, "It is an emergency. Aster, listen, there's something you have to see."

Aster sighed, "What? You found something explaining all of this?"

"No," He heard Atticus's voice shake a little, "This is bad news."

"Are you the ones running up and down the hallways, making all the racket?" Aster asked.

"Yeah. Where are you?"

"In a janitor's closet on the second floor."

"Damn, we were just there. Alright, meet you by the exit."

"The exit? What makes you so sure we have to leave?" Aster did not like decisions being made for him.

Atticus began pleading, "Please, Aster. I'm begging you, you're going to regret it if you don't listen to me."

"Well then why can't you just explain it to me now?"

Atticus flushed, he seemed embarrassed, "I don't think I can."

"FINE!" Aster exploded, a little louder than he had planned, "We haven't found anything anyway. I'll meet you by the stairs." He hit the off button angrily. The others were all at attention now, including Jaden, and they looked worried. Aster was too, although he would never admit it.

They left right away, hearts beating manically in their chests. It was when they were about halfway there when they ran (literally) into Alexis.

"Oh thank god!" She managed, bestowing a relieved hug on Jim.

"What are you doing here?!" Aster said angrily, now deciding that the Rhodes were troublesome in general. "You were supposed to be buying time for us!"

"We were," Alexis said, "But Aster, the guards are armed!" She sounded terrified. Jim and Jaden both looked shocked, Zane slightly surprised and Aster irritated.

"Is that what your brother was trying to tell me?" He spat at her, "Because you know he could have just told me that instead of demanding that we leave immediately."

Alexis seemed confused, "I didn't talk to Atticus. And I don't see how he could have known about the guards, unless they ran into them or something." They all shuddered involuntarily. What if someone had been killed and that's what Atticus couldn't bring himself to tell Aster? "But even if it's something else, I think it's good that we get out of here." Jim and Jaden nodded in agreement.

"You're all a bunch of wimps, you know that?" Aster said furiously. Alexis noticed that this wasn't exactly an objection to the idea.

"What happened to Syrus and Chazz?" Jim asked, as they headed in the direction of the trapdoor.

"They want to go call Sy's parents. They should be waiting with them outside." She heard what sounded like a suppressed laugh from Zane, and smiled to herself. She hadn't heard him laugh since the graduation duel, and was elated to hear the sound of it again.

She grinned at him, "I know. The first thing I could think of was your mom asking Chazz what his favorite class was at school." Since Atticus had been friends with Zane even before Alexis had joined them at Duel Academy, the kids knew the others' parents fairly well.

Zane's lips twitched in a dangerous hint of a smile, "I hope they don't embarrass my brother too much. It will be hard for him to live it down if Chazz overhears." He then remembered Atticus's earlier comment about his "destroying" Syrus and the smile vanished completely. Alexis was disappointed.

The others suddenly appeared in front of them, and Alexis was relieved to notice that they were all there. Aster opened his mouth to yell at Atticus, but Atticus shoved the paper from the file room in front of his face before he got a chance. Watching Aster's reaction to it was painful. It changed quickly from disbelief to fear to fury, and then to a terrifying mixture of all three.

"Let's go." He said. This was all it took for them to dash up the stairs.

Alexis grabbed her brother's hand, "Atty, what's going on?" He slipped her the paper and she read it, sympathy for Aster immediately filling her heart after she saw it said. They passed the paper down the line so that everyone might know what was going on. So that everyone would know that this wasn't just about dueling anymore. There were real dangers, and no one was going to come out unscarred.

Relief soon washed over the fear, when they spotted Syrus, along with an agitated looking Chazz, standing in front of the Truesdales' van.

"You're all okay!" Syrus exclaimed happily, "We were worried that –" He and Chazz were than handed the paper, fright registering on each of their faces as they read it.

"Dad!" Syrus called to the man sitting in the driver's seat, "We have to go!" They sped away, suddenly caught in a race against time.

A/N – So, do you know who it's going to be? Or have I totally just confused you by dropping false hints? … You'll have to wait and see!


	11. No Longer Just Life Points

A/N – I am so sorry that I left you on a cliffhanger for so long! I had a ridiculous amount of homework and my mom didn't let me use the computer for about a week. Slight spiritshipping and even a little proshipping (if you want to see it) as well as character deaths. Also, slight gory description.

"So tell me again why I'm going past the speed limit?" Syrus's father asked casually as he drove in the direction they'd told him to.

Syrus looked around at his friends and realized they expected him to answer. He winced, hoping his answer wouldn't upset Aster too much, "When we were in that building, we found this list of people who the ICO – the people who banned dueling – think are a danger to society. They're the people who are going to be murdered…" He stopped for a minute to steal a look at Aster. He was sitting in the back next to Zane, staring out the window blankly. "And Aster's best friend was the first name on it."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, Sweetie," Syrus's mom said, craning her neck so that Aster would know she was talking to him. He turned his head and gave her a weak smile.

"It's all my fault," Jaden said. Jesse laced his fingers through Jaden's, in an attempt at comforting him, "No it –"

Aster cut him off angrily, his voice shaking with rage, "Tell me you aren't doing this." Everyone flinched at the volume of his voice. Syrus's parents looked worried.

"Doing what?" Jaden replied softly.

"Making this about you." Aster's jaw was clenched ferociously, and he looked like he would like nothing more than to lunge at Jaden.

"Hey, he wasn't –" Jesse began, but surprisingly Jaden interrupted him, "No, he's right." Jaden turned towards Aster and fearfully met his eyes, "I'm sorry. You're right. This isn't about me. And if things don't go well, I'm sorry for that too." It was the least self-involved thing he'd said since the burning, and Aster was genuinely touched.

"Thanks," Aster answered, barely audibly. He was going to apologize for yelling but decided that he didn't trust himself to speak. Everyone was staring at Jaden now, and Aster felt glad that he wasn't in the spotlight for the moment.

It wasn't long before they were at Sartorious and Serena's house, and Aster wasn't sure whether he should be grateful, or scared out of his mind.

"Follow me, okay?" Aster said. The others were unnerved at how young his voice sounded, and merely nodded.

"Stay here, okay dad?" Syrus said to his parents as they got out of the car. His mother blew kisses to both her sons, "Good luck! I hope everything's okay! "

The group approached the house in terror, everyone who had met Sartorious and Serena worried sick. He had turned out to be a decent guy.

They heard Aster's sharp intake of breath as he noticed that the door was ajar. That was never a good sign. He looked back at them suddenly, a little worried about them being with him when they found them. Because he had a toxic feeling in his gut that they weren't going to find anything good.

"It's okay, Aster." Jaden said, noticing his expression. Aster nodded finally, the fact that those words had come from Jaden being enough to make him go inside.

The house was fairly small. It was cozy, but nothing to elaborate or elegant. The foyer was dimly lit, and they could barely see.

"Sartorious?" Aster called out weakly. His voice betrayed the fact that he already knew that he wasn't going to get an answer. It was nice to hope though.

"I see…something." Axel muttered, pointing to the entrance of what they assumed was the kitchen. No one breathed as they slowly advanced towards it.

It was Serena. Her body was limp, and her skin plaster like. There was a sickening pool of blood around her once silky dark hair. Atticus instinctively clapped a hand over his sister's eyes and Jesse pulled Jaden into his arms. Everyone else watched in traumatized silence as Aster bent down to check her pulse.

"She's dead." He said finally, squeezing his eyes shut to keep his composure as best he could, "Where's Sartorious?" He bellowed suddenly, turning around and charging up the stairs.

The rest of the group was too shocked to move at first. "I can't believe it," Syrus whispered to no one in particular, "It's so unfair." They nodded in sorrowful consent, until an agonized wail sent them running up to the second floor.

The sound had come from a room at the end of the hall, and they sprinted quickly towards it. Hearts racing in panic at what they were about to find.

On the pale green carpet, lay what was left of Sartorious. If Serena had been murdered, then he had been massacred. It looked as though someone had tried to cut him up into little pieces. His entire body was_ drenched _in dark red blood, and they all knew that there was no need to check his pulse.

Aster was curled up in the corner, sobbing his heart out into his hands. No one knew quite what to do. They were pretty sure Aster wasn't very affectionate, and therefore weren't sure he'd appreciate someone going over to him. He'd probably just be embarrassed.

As Jim took a blanket from the bed and threw it over Sartorious's remains, Zane made his way over to Aster anyway. Somebody had to do it. He crouched down next to him, and reluctantly placed a hand on Aster's shoulder. Syrus felt himself remembering the time when Zane had been there for him, after his crush had turned him down for the school dance.

Surprisingly, Aster didn't shrug off the unexpected comfort. The two sat there for a while, Zane never removing his hand.

"Somebody should call the police, and arrange the funeral and stuff." Axel muttered.

"We'll do it." Atticus said, referring to Alexis and himself. They promptly left the room. Over the next few minutes, the others trickled out as well, deciding to give Aster his space.

Aster must have been able to see through a crack between his fingers, because the second the last person left he whispered to Zane, "He was all I had left." The words were simple and quiet, but Zane felt himself saddened by them all the same.

"You have us." He replied, knowing that Aster might not care.

Aster sniffed, "Not really. I don't think they trust me."

"That makes two of us," Zane replied bitterly. He then remembered Aster's earlier comment to Jaden and regretted saying it, "But they do trust you. Otherwise they wouldn't have let you lead for so long. And they care about you." For some reason Aster began sobbing again at this, and Zane timidly reached up to stroke his hair. "I'm sorry," He said, not knowing what else there was to say. He was surprised when he felt Aster leaning into him slightly.

Nearly half an hour had passed when Aster finally looked up. Zane felt his insides twist uncomfortably at seeing Aster with his eyes red and his face tearstained.

"Would it be okay if we head back to the boat?" Aster asked, rubbing at his eyes furiously.

Zane nodded, an idea hitting him, "If you want, we can go to my parents' house. It's pretty close, and we have plenty of space for everyone." Aster nodded appreciatively, "Thanks." He had lots of picture of himself with Sartorious sitting in his bedroom on the boat; it would probably be better not to go back there just yet.

They left the room then, taken aback to find an embarrassed policeman waiting outside the door. "We've just been waiting to get the body," He said awkwardly, gesturing at the room, "Um, your friends arranged for there to be a burial procession tomorrow."

"Thank you, sir," Zane said, for Aster seemed incapable of speech.

They found the others sitting in the den, their expressions tinted with sadness. "We're going to head over to my house, and spend the night there. We can decide what to do after the funeral." This seemed to bring people's focus back. In the midst of what had happened, they had forgotten all about the ban and what this had been about in the first place. For once dueling had taken a back seat to real life.

Besides Syrus's flushed face at the thought of his friends seeing his house, it was with a numb absence of emotion that they refilled the Truesdales' car. Zane quickly interrupted them before they could ask what had happened, and they drove back to their house in silence.


	12. After the First Deaths

A/N – Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter! You guys are great! Spiritshipping, and I say that as opposed to 'slight spiritshipping' because it is more than implied in this chapter.

Despite the fact that it was mid morning, the first thing the group did when they arrived back at the Truesdales' house, was to go straight to bed. The last they'd slept was on the boat, and that hadn't been particularly restful. Also, it seemed everyone was too afraid of what might get said if they all stayed together for too long.

Alexis got the guest bedroom, and the Truesdales' offered Aster their room, which he gratefully accepted. Everybody else was forced to squeeze into Zane and Syrus's rooms.

"Where does everyone want to go?" Zane asked, as they stood in a wordless cluster at the top of the stairs. Now that Aster was out of commission, and they were in his house, Zane had taken on the role of leader.

The replies he got were only really half-shrugs. Everyone was feeling far too guilty and worried and confused to care about things like that.

Atticus in particular, who had spent nearly an entire summer there a few years ago, felt particularly strange. Although he didn't know Aster well, and couldn't help but dislike Sartorious for the goings-on of the year before, the sadness was contagious. He wasn't sure he wanted that feeling connected with this house.

Wordlessly, they split into the two bedrooms. It did not go unnoticed how odd it was that Atticus went into Syrus's room, and Jesse and Jaden into Zane's.

Syrus could not help but be embarrassed, as he lay on his bed with his friends in sleeping bags below him. Something about it was unreal, especially under the circumstances. He tried to shrug it aside, however, until Atticus voiced a worry that they'd all been thinking of.

"The funeral," He said quietly, "Won't it be weird? Sartorious almost ruined our lives." They all tried to sneak looks at Chazz, who had of course been one of the Society's lead members. His pillow covered his head though, in a lame attempt at feigning sleep.

"I don't think it'll be so much a funeral, though. I think just a burial," Syrus said.

"Maybe," Atticus replied. He didn't say that he hoped this was the case, since it would take away some of the awkwardness. He didn't want to seem cold hearted.

"I feel badly for Aster," Syrus said softly, as he thought of the duelist, alone in his parents' room, "He lost his best friend and his deck in only a couple of days."

The murmured agreements were the last words they spoke, for now everyone's thoughts had traveled back to their cards.

Zane's room was a lot quieter. Axel and Jim had both fallen nearly instantly asleep, and Zane had drifted off soon after. It was only Jesse and Jaden who lay awake, hands linked somewhere between the sleeping bags.

"Jay?" Jesse whispered, as he noticed that the other's eyes were open.

"Yeah?" Jaden replied.

"Are you okay?" Jesse asked.

Jaden felt his heart warm as he saw Jesse's expression full of warmth and concern. He wondered if the other boy knew how much he loved to be around him. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just thinking."

"What about?"

"Just," Jaden hesitated, wanting to phrase it just right, "I'm worried that I've been acting the wrong way."

"How so?" Jesse said.

"In caring about my cards so much. They're only cards aren't they? It's not like I lost you or anything." Jaden blushed, worrying about that sounding too intense.

"Aw, that's okay Jay. You had a right to be upset," Jesse said, trying to hide his smile at Jaden's words.

"I know. But… I think it's been enough now. We've got to help Aster get back at these ICO guys for what they did."

"Sure."

"And Jess, you'll be with me, won't you?"

Jesse's grin spread, "Always." And before he could think about it, he leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on Jaden's lips.

A/N – Sorry the chapter is a bit of a filler, but I hope the JesseXJaden stuff makes up for it. The next big action isn't going to be for a couple of chapters, but don't worry, it'll be worth the wait!


	13. Getting Better all the Time

A/N – Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I hope you enjoy the quick update. The line at the end, between Jaden and Jesse, I borrowed from Rent (when Angel and Collins say that to each other, in the play). Spiritshipping and slight proshipping, also one-sided Anikishipping, if you want to see it that way.

The burial was awkward, on many levels. Aster stood silently by the grave, and everyone else was behind him in a semi-circle. No one dared move or speak. No one wanted to be the first to suggest that they leave. They were waiting for Aster.

It was about an hour later that he finally spoke, "We should start thinking about what to do next. We have to finish this," He sounded rather different than they'd ever heard him before. Neither arrogant nor vulnerable sounding, just cold and professional.

"Aster," Alexis said uncertainly, "We don't need to get back to planning right away. If you want a little time –"

"No," Aster interrupted her softly, "I mean thanks, but we can't. Sartorious would have wanted us to avenge him." His voice cracked slightly here, and he willed himself not to start crying. It might have been stupid, but he cared a lot about not appearing weak in front of any of them. He wanted to show he could move past this and put dealing with the ICO first.

"Well, we kind of forgot about it, but our group got some files," Atticus said, pulling the documents they found out from his backpack. "But they're mostly data, and we don't know what it means."

"Bastion would be great at this," Jaden said as he looked over the papers, "What ever happened to him?" Everybody shrugged guiltily at the thought that they actually lost track of one of their friends.

Aster seemed uninterested in their findings, "Listen. I think all we have to do, is get Kaiba and Pegasus out, and things will be fine." All eyes turned to him. This was the first time anyone had said anything like this.

"What do you mean?" Syrus asked.

"I think that if they're around, then they have enough pull to undo the law. Besides, Pegasus can get Industrial Illusions up and running again."

"So you think that they were kidnapped before the law was made?" Axel asked, as he began to piece together what Aster was saying.

Aster nodded, "When was the last time you saw any of your teachers?"

They had to think about it for a minute. "I think it was maybe three days before the burning," Hassleberry said. For the first time in a while, everyone smiled. If this was the case, then there was hope. Now all they had to do was find out where the prisoners were.

"We should go back to the boat I guess," Aster said, "It will be easier to do research there." He really didn't want to, but there wasn't any other choice. Zane met his eyes then, communicating that they could figure out something else if he wanted to. Aster shook his head slightly; he didn't want them to purposely try and make things easier on him.

The Truesdales' had had to go to work, so they walked their way down to where the boat was docked. Aster hesitantly led the group, with Zane by his side. They occasionally muttered idle comments to one another. Next were Jesse and Jaden, tightly holding onto to one another's hands. Although they hadn't discussed it yet, their kiss the day before seemed to have made them both exceedingly happier. It was marred, only slightly, by the guilt they felt about the timing.

Syrus, Hassleberry, Atticus and Alexis stayed together. Syrus's mood decreasing with every loving glance he saw pass between Jaden and Jesse. He told himself that he was angry because it was so inappropriate right now, but he knew that this wasn't the whole truth. Then Axel and Jim, who were probably most excited about the new theory. Since they hadn't known Sartorious, they felt no obligation to be sad, and therefore were free to dwell on the possibilities that this might all be over soon. Trailing behind the group was Chazz. He seemed to be a little more upset than he was letting on, and Atticus made up his mind to talk to him later if needed.

Things had definitely changed, in terms of friendship dynamics. Instead of being one large "happy family" group, they had gone off into smaller pairs and such. It wasn't so surprising, Syrus mused sadly, he only wished that Jaden could be with him.

The walk wasn't too long, and before they knew it they had arrived at the docks. It felt strange to be back there though, after all that had happened.

It was painful for them to watch Aster struggle with himself as they climbed on board. In fact, it was only once Zane went and whispered something to him that no one else could hear, that he seemed able to go inside.

"We're going to go out onto the deck," Zane announced firmly. Something in the way he said it implied that there was definite reasoning behind this decision.

They reassembled themselves out there, sitting on the wicker furniture that Aster had out. Zane realized as everyone stared at him, that he was expected to be the leader now.

"Alright," He said finally, "I think it might be best to see if we can get a tracking device to find out the location of the teachers' PDA's." He did his best to discreetly glance everyone's reactions. "It's a long shot, since they were probably taken, but it's the best option we've got."

Everyone nodded; this sounded like a reasonable idea. It was Jaden's response that pleasantly surprised them though, "Yeah! Perfect! And then we'll know exactly where they are!" Something about seeing him so enthusiastic again lifted everyone's spirits tremendously. Even Aster's.

"So are you all in?" Zane asked, just for good measure. Once they had agreed he said, "Okay, Aster and I will go and check up on his computer, and see what we can find about tracking devices. Does anyone else want to come?"

"I will," Atticus said. Zane stared at him for a moment, silently begging him not to do this _now_. He wasn't sure he could handle being alone with Aster and Atticus at the same time. But Atticus could be stubborn and determined, and Zane knew that he wouldn't be persuaded otherwise.

"Fine," Zane said through clenched teeth, "Then who wants to go and call around at Duel Academy for the teachers' numbers?"

"We will," Alexis replied, referring to herself, Syrus, Chazz and Hassleberry. "Our friend Blair might know Bonaparte's." Zane couldn't help but smile at the distant memory of the little girl who had come to Duel Academy just to be near him.

"The rest of you," He continued to those who were left, "Help any way that you can." With that they split up, Axel and Jim deciding to help call Blair and the others still at Duel Academy. It was Jaden and Jesse left on the deck.

"Jess?" Jaden said finally, deciding it was time to address their relationship, "Are we a thing?"

Jesse smiled widely, "Aw Jay, we're everything." And with that Jaden knew that everything would be okay.


	14. Obvious Answers

A/N – I know, it's been an eternity. I'm really sorry for the tremendous wait! I have a ton of excuses, but they're all sort of stupid so I won't bother. Just so you know, we're kind of approaching the end here. Well, sort of. There's still a bit to go. Anyway, on with the story!

Warning: Spiritshipping, slight Proshipping, slight ZaneAtticus and slight Anikishipping

Atticus lasted about ten minutes working with Aster and Zane. It was just too hard to see how well they clicked together. Zane hadn't been kidding; they really did make a great team. Muttering an excuse about getting a glass of water, Atticus left the room in the hopes of seeing what the others were up to.

He entered the living room to see his sister sitting with Jim and Axel. All three of them appeared to be in a pretty sour mood.

"What's going on?" he asked, bracing for bad news.

"Nothing," Alexis replied in a flat voice, "That's the problem."

"Where's everyone else?" Atticus asked, glancing around at the empty chairs.

"Let's see," Alexis began with a sigh, "Chazz stormed off after the first phone call, Syrus got pretty upset and ran away, and Hassleberry went after him."

"What about Jesse and Jaden?"

To Atticus's surprise, Alexis's cheeks darkened a few shades. "They are, um, making out."

"_What?"_ Axel and Jim both looked up and Atticus said the next part more quietly, "_Now?" _

Alexis nodded, "Yeah. Apparently their love can't wait for this crisis to be over. "

Atticus frowned and sat next to her on the couch, remembering his role as her big brother. "I'm sorry Lex, I know you-"

Alexis laughed, "Will you stop with that? I promise you, I don't like Jay."

Atticus smiled, "Okay, sis. If you say so." They grinned at one another for a second and then hugged, realizing how lucky they were to be together.

"Do you need any help with this?" Atticus directed this at all of them and it was Jim who answered.

"No thanks, Mate. We aren't making much progress anyhow. If you want, you can try and see where the others went."

"Okay," Atticus replied, already dreading talking Chazz down from one of his moods, "Good luck guys."

He found Syrus and Hassleberry first; sitting in the kitchen and evidently having a heart to heart. He decided to leave them alone, hoping that their conversation might help Syrus.

Purposefully, Atticus didn't search the deck. He guessed that's where Jesse and Jaden were and didn't love the idea of walking in on them. With a grimace, he climbed the stairs in search of Chazz.

As it turned out, he didn't have to look to far. Chazz was sitting against the wall of one of the many miscellaneous rooms. He frowned slightly when he saw Atticus, but didn't appear particularly murderous.

Atticus sat beside him, and decided to let him say the first word. It was much safer to do that. There was silence for a few moments and then, "I hate Aster." Atticus turned in surprise, this not being at all what he'd expected.

"I mean we don't even know him! Why are he and Zane running everything?"

Atticus blinked, considering what to come back with first. "Well, you respect Zane don't you?"

Chazz's frown tightened and a crease appeared between his eyes, "Not anymore. Not since he lost to that – that" he sputtered, at a loss of just how horrible a word would be appropriate for Aster.

"Can't you cut them both some slack? They're trying to help us, remember." Chazz didn't say anything, and Atticus to take a risk, figuring it would save time.

"Is this about Sartorius?"

Chazz laughed bitterly, nearly cackling, "Are you kidding? The guy nearly killed me! I'm glad he's gone!"

"But it wasn't his fault…"

"So what? It bugs me how Aster's all sad and everything, that's all." Atticus rolled his eyes, suspecting there was more to it than that.

"Fine then. Come down and help; they could use you."

"Whatever," Chazz replied, standing slowly to his feet.

When they returned downstairs, everyone was in the living room except for Jesse and Jaden.

"Find anything?" Atticus asked, his intrigue overriding his desire not to talk to Aster and Zane.

Zane nodded, "Yeah. Tracking devices don't work very well. " He shrugged, "It was a long shot anyway."

"So that's it, we're just back at square one?" Alexis asked. She locked her eyes on Zane, wishing she could know what he was thinking.

It was then that an excited shout came from the deck, "Guys! Guys!" There were the sounds of thundering feet and then Jesse and Jaden burst into the room. For a split second, Atticus thought that they were excited because they were about to break the news of their budding relationship; then he noticed that Jesse had his deck in hand.

"Guess what?" Jesse said, nearly jumping up and down, "We're idiots."

"Why?" Aster asked, sounding the slightest bit affronted.

"Ruby, " Jaden said, with a wide grin, "She just told us. The teachers are about four miles form here in the basement of some department store. She says that they're okay, but that it's going to be hard getting them out of there." He paused, as he ran out of breath, "Now can you believe that we didn't think of asking her earlier?"

Zane felt his head swimming. He had no idea that Jesse had a duel spirit, and for some reason it hadn't occurred to him to ask. He glanced at Aster quickly, seeing an expression there that he assumed mirrored his own.

"Alright, everyone," Zane said, "If it's going to be hard setting them free then we need supplies."

"Like weapons?" Syrus asked softly, glancing up at his brother with wide eyes.

Zane set his mouth in a line, "You can bet they'll have them. We want to be able to defend ourselves, don't we?" Nobody protested and he nodded, "Get yourselves ready, okay?"

"Wait, everyone. Wait!" Alexis called, as they began to split off, "What are we going to do when – if – we get them?"

Everyone turned as Jaden answered her, "Oh come on guys, have a little faith. Pegasus will know what to do."


	15. Heat of the Moment

A/N – Thanks to the people who reviewed last chapter! I'm so incredibly sorry about the wait, but I hope that this chapter will be okay for now.

Warnings: Spiritshipping, slight Proshipping, etc. Also VIOLENCE and CHARACTER DEATH.

They headed out to the imprisonment building. Syrus noticed with a fleeting sense of joy that they walked as a group. Nobody led and nobody lagged behind, for once they were all together. He couldn't help but worry that this was because they knew the dangers of what they were about to do.

After searching Aster's yacht for a few minutes, they realized that the only "weapons" around were some thin pieces of frayed rope and dinner knives. Even if the knives were unusually sharp due to Aster's love of steak, it still did not make much of a defense system. Syrus felt the knife he was carrying tremble in his sweaty fingertips, and he wondered whether he could ever actually stab somebody.

"Are we close?" Atticus asked in a low voice, as Aster and Zane motioned for everyone to stop walking.

Zane nodded, "Very. It's only about a block away." He surveyed the group, an unidentifiable glint in his eyes, "We should make final preparations now."

Aster nodded. "Yeah. So, we're going to get in, and do our best to find everyone and get them out without anyone knowing." Everyone nodded, fully aware that this was highly unlikely. "But since they're probably going to be guards everywhere, we're going to stick together and only fight if necessary, got it?"

"And if anybody gets hurt we call 911," Axel said, understanding that no one else was going to bring up that thought.

"Anything else?" Aster asked. All else aside, he had enjoyed being able to play leader, and doubted that he would ever get the opportunity again. No one spoke, and so Aster gave a nod and they continued.

They walked the final block with a peculiar defiance. It felt strange to be saving the world without their decks in hand.

The front door of the building was open, as they had expected it to be. After all, it was a regular building, for the most part.

"Be quiet. Try not to attract much attention to yourselves," Aster whispered, as they slipped through the doors. Surprisingly enough, they only seemed to attract the attention of a few suspicious guards. Just as Aster began to calm down, thinking that perhaps they could succeed unscathed, an alarm went off.

"That's not good," Aster remarked, unable to keep the dripping irony from his voice.

"Sorry," One of the guards sneered, moving in front of the revolving doors, "We've received reports that there may be escaped convicts in the store. We ask that you cooperate with us as we locate them, in the hopes that everyone stays safe."

Aster held his breath, waiting the half a second for the entire store to descend into panic. He cursed quickly under his breath, and then grabbed the people on either side of him, not bothering to notice who they were. He pulled them along to the elevator, not allowing himself to turn back and glance at the others. This was it.

He frantically pressed the button, sighing in relief when the doors slid open. They could still do it. After heaving pressed the button for basement, he finally looked at whom he'd pulled along. Hassleberry and Syrus. He cursed softly again.

"What are you doing?" Syrus wailed, clearly as panicked as the visiting customers.

"We're going to do this," Aster said, his voice imperviously calm.

"The three of us?!" Syrus said.

"Yeah," Aster replied, nodding along. For the first time since he'd known them, he had faith in the midget and the soldier.

"What are we going to do?" Hassleberry asked.

"Same thing as the plan. Search for Pegasus and the others"

"What about the others?" Syrus asked.

"Oh, they'll be fine," Aster assured him, "It's us I'm worried about."

"Don't worry Sarge, we'll be fine," Hassleberry said. Aster was about to tell him not to get his hopes up when he registered something and smiled.

"You know what, you're probably right."

The doors opened as quickly as they closed, and for a second the three duelists stayed inside the elevator. The lights were out; there was no way of seeing what might be waiting for them.

"Let's go," Aster murmured finally. The next few moments were somewhat of a blur. There were several shouts, and then Syrus felt something cold being pressed against his neck. His breath caught in his throat as his peripheral vision got a splotch of the image. A gun. Too scared to move, he fell limp under a guard's arm, his eyes searching desperately for Aster and Hassleberry.

Then suddenly: "RUN!" Aster shouted from the side of the room, struggling to break free from a guard's grip. A piercing gunshot filled the air, followed by a second and the crashing of plaster from the ceiling.

Aster rolled over unconscious, his head hit by the falling wall. Syrus screamed incoherently, trying to run over to where Hassleberry had fallen.

"No, no," he muttered, fruitlessly trying to cover the dripping wound in his friend's chest. "NO!" he sobbed, suddenly oblivious to their predicament.

"Get him," somebody whispered.

"No!" Syrus shrieked, completely enraged. He no longer cared about anything, not his cards, not Duel Academy, not whether or not Jaden went with Jesse. All that mattered was avenging Hassleberry. He raised his dagger, ready to strike on whoever tried to separate him from Hassleberry's body… To be continued


	16. When the World Crashes Down

A/N – I couldn't leave you guys with that kind of cliffhanger for too long. ; ) Read and review, please!

Warnings: The usual ships and gory details

"Hey, what was that?" Alexis asked, her panic escalating.

"It sounded like a gunshot…" Jim said, his eyes widening.

"Let's go," Jaden said, without a second thought. Ignoring the shouting guards and the manic customers, they clambered over to the elevator.

"They wanted to go to the basement, right?" Atticus asked, as he pressed the button frantically. A few people nodded.

"Why the hell would Aster do that?" Chazz asked. He looked beyond furious and was glaring angrily at everyone who looked in his direction.

"It's his way," Jaden replied softly, "He wanted to accomplish what we came here to do."

"Yeah, but what good is that if people get hurt?" Everyone looked up, taking a moment to register that it was Zane who said these words. His brother and his something-or-other might be… of everyone, he certainly had the most to lose.

"Syrus!" Jaden shouted, giving a tremendous sigh of relief as he spotted Syrus, curled up in a ball and sobbing in the middle of the floor. "Sy, Sy talk to me, what's wrong?" Syrus didn't answer, but merely shook his head and continued bawling.

"Where are the others?" Atticus asked quietly, to no one in particular.

"Syrus," Zane said, as calmly as he could manage, "It's okay Sy, you can tell us." Finally, Syrus looked up, allowing his brother to pull him into his arms.

"They – they," he couldn't say it though, and hid his face in Zane's shoulder.

"Guys…" Axel said, his voice trembling, "Over here." Nobody wanted to see though, so Axel managed to choke out, "He doesn't have a pulse."

"I-I'll call the police," Jim said finally, going into a side room with Axel closely behind him.

"Oh my god," Alexis muttered, tears streaming down her face, "I can't believe…"

"Yeah," Atticus said sadly, kissing her forehead. "Chazz? Are you..."

"No I'm not okay!" Chazz shouted angrily, "I'm going to kill Aster!" He furiously drove his foot into the wall and ran down the hall.

Atticus made to go after him, but Alexis stopped him, "Let him cool off. We'll find him later."

Atticus nodded, his eyes filling with tears. "Okay, sis." They silently disappeared from the room.

"Jay," Jesse said softly, his eyes fixated on Jaden as always.

"Not now Jesse," Jaden snarled angrily, pushing Jesse's arm from his shoulder.

Jesse took a step back, his face pale and scared looking. "Sorry," he said finally, "I'll…" he left as well, leaving only Jaden, Syrus and Zane in the room.

"Syrus," Zane said again, his voice husky, "It's only us now. Tell us what happened."

"I don't know," Syrus said finally, turning around and leaning against Zane, "I heard the shots… and it was too late when I went over to him. And then –" he began to cry harder again, and Jaden gently squeezed one of his hands.

"I couldn't let them just live, could I?" Syrus asked, "Not after that?"

"Syrus, no," Jaden said, his face a mixture of misery and shock.

"I-I didn't think about it, I just did it." He paused to fruitlessly wipe at his eyes. "I put them over there," Syrus sobbed, pointing to a place in the hallway. "I didn't mean to, but I couldn't let them, I couldn't let them –"

"Shh…" Zane murmured, rubbing Syrus's hair, "It's okay, nobody blames you. Sy, do you know where Aster is?"

Syrus raised his hand and pointed to the corner of the room, "He's unconscious," he sniffled, "I don't think he's – I don't think he's –"

"Okay," Zane said softly, gently placing Syrus on the ground, "I'm going to check, okay? Don't worry, everything will be fine." Syrus shook his head, for once not being comforted by Zane's reassurance.

"Sy," Jaden said, his voice tremulous, "I want to see him, will you show me?"

Syrus's eyes locked on Jaden's for the first time since the burning, and he nodded. "Yeah." He gently took Jaden's hand and pulled him to where Hassleberry lay.

"Oh –" Jaden's voice broke suddenly, and he fell onto his knees. "Hassleberry," he said, raising his voice a fraction, "I'm so sorry, I'm so –" he stopped talking when he felt Syrus's warm hand on his shoulder.

"It wasn't your fault Jay," Syrus said.

"How can you say that?" Jaden cried, "If I hadn't made such a big deal out of everything…"

Syrus shook his head, "No, don't say that, it wasn't your fault."

Jaden looked at him for a long moment before opening his arms. Syrus fell into them gratefully, his tears flowing once again. "Thank you for being my best friend," Jaden murmured into Syrus's hair. The two clung together, sobbing in remembrance of their fallen friend.

A/N – RIP Hassleberry! Aw, this chapter made me so sad to write though. I hope you liked reading it anyway. : ) I'll try to update sometime again this week.


	17. Heart to Heart

A/N – Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

Warnings: Actually… not much in this chapter. It's pretty much all character stuff.

"We're reading in the ambulance," Jaden said shortly, an arm around Syrus. He glanced at Zane, who nodded.

"They're sending a car for you guys, okay?" Zane added, his voice gentle. Tragedy seemed to bring out the softer side of his personality.

"Thanks," Atticus replied. They stood in silence as Aster and Hassleberry were loaded onto stretchers, the other three following behind them.

"You the kids from the department store?" A man said, approaching them.

"Uh, yeah," Axel answered.

"We'll drive you to the hospital," he said, trying to look sympathetic. "We know you've been through a lot, so we'll try not to bother you tonight, but tomorrow morning we'd like to talk to you."

"Okay," Axel said skeptically.

"It's about this law thing," the guy said, "We're not so sure it's 'legal', if that makes any sense." It didn't, but no one cared in the slightest about its implications.

"Alright," he said, realizing he wasn't going to get much out of them, "Load on up then, I guess. You can sleep there, if you'd like."

They boarded one by one, almost as if they were scared to get too close to one another. Jesse's face was plastered to the window, his eyes trained upon the ambulance in the distance. Clearly, his thoughts were still on Jaden.

Chazz folded himself into a seat in the very back, his shoulders shaking. He'd bonded significantly with Hassleberry over the last two years, and didn't have the energy to stay enraged any longer. Alexis and Atticus clung together, both feeling very small amidst the overwhelming emotions.

Finally, Axel spoke. "If… if the law does get changed, wouldn't they have been happy about that?"

Jim nodded, trying and failing to smile. "I'm sure they would, mate." He clapped Axel on the arm.

No one else spoke. It took too much effort, and there was nothing to say.

Nearly an hour later, they drove up to the hospital. "Do you think we can see them?' Alexis asked Atticus, nearly inaudibly.

"Yeah, if that's would you want." Atticus said, trying everything in his power to comfort his sister.

"I do," she said, "I think we all should say good – goodbye." She hiccupped softly and leaned into Atticus.

"Good idea, Lex," Jim said, "I agree." Axel nodded.

Atticus stood, Alexis still attached to his hand, and went over to Chazz. "Hey… Chazzy, we're here. Do you want to go say goodbye?"

He didn't seem to answer, but Atticus caught a muffled 'no'. "You guys go ahead, okay?" Atticus said, "I'll meet up with you later.

"Atty…" Alexis began, unabashedly selfish. She wanted her brother.

"Shh… it's okay Lex, I just want to make sure Chazz knows he's not alone," he whispered, giving her a hug. "We'll be there soon."

"Alright," Alexis finally agreed, reluctantly releasing him from her grip. "We'll - we'll go find the others. Jesse, are you coming?"

"What? Oh, yeah, coming. Hey –" he hesitated, "do you guys think they were there after all? Ruby's never been wrong before."

"Does it really matter?" Axel snapped, for once losing his cool.

"No, of course not," Jesse said softly, "Just… trying to distract myself I guess."

"Let's go," Alexis said. They stepped down to the sidewalk, leaving Atticus and Chazz alone.

"Talk to me," Atticus said at once.

He didn't say anything for a while, and then finally, "What's to talk about?"

Atticus sighed, sitting on the seat beside him. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that," he said. "Just, you can talk to me. You know that, right?" Chazz didn't reply. "I mean… you're one of my best friends."

"I am?" It was quiet, and sounded more like a sob than a word, but at least he was talking.

"Of course," Atticus said, smiling in spite of himself.

A pair of red-rimmed brown eyes peeked up. "Well…" Atticus's grin broadened, as he realized Chazz was considering relaying the sentiment back.

"It's okay," he patted Chazz on the shoulder, "I know I am."

Chazz smiled back slightly, tears still seeping down his face. "Thanks," he said.

"You're welcome," Atticus replied sincerely, "Now do you want to go say goodbye?"

Chazz's face crumpled once again, and Atticus put an arm around him. "Don't worry, okay? Everything's going to be fine." He really hoped that it would be.

A/N - Next chapter we'll find out what happened to everyone else. Sorry for the long wait!


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